Carved in history: how dragon motifs tell the tale of the rise and fall of Chinese empires

The dragon’s serpentine forms have adorned Chinese pottery for millennia, and this mythical creature has come to symbolise power, strength, and good fortune. Dragon motifs on pottery date back nearly as far as Chinese written history itself, with the earliest example discovered on a vessel from the Yangshao culture (5000 BC–3000 BC). The association between dragons and ceramics persisted for centuries, with the mystical creature now closely linked to Chinese porcelain. Early depictions of...